Magnolia ~ An Odyssey
77
Prologue
He was a "boomer" - a late boomer; "late" because he was born later in the boomer decade. His older brother was an earlier boomer. But their relationship is to come later on in the story. Let me first set the stage.
If you happen to be unfamiliar with the term, "boomer", it's a nickname for one of a group of persons born in America during the decade or so of aftermath of WWII. "Boomer" is a version of the more formal term for that generation: "Baby-Boomers", so called because of the sizable "boom" in births which followed the return from the war of men to the women who waited for them.
It is a unique generation, born and reared in a post-war epoch of conflict hiatus and surging economic boom, with youngsters having more "things" than a preceding generation could have imagined. The boomers' parents grew up during a Great Depression when things were extremely scarce and they came of age with the outbreak of WAR, when things were extremely rationed because all focus was upon making sure the troops were well-supplied with necessary things to win battles and end the war, making the world better, safer and more prosperous. It was a time of hope, intensity, patriotism, and loyalty, with few if any questions asked. They could hardly have visualized the prosperity which would follow.
Boomers, however, knew nothing of this lack of things except as they were told about it. Those stories were virtually incomprehensible to them. They always had and expected to have ample things and creature comforts. They'd never needed to plant a garden or to "make do". Tales of doing without and having to walk to school sounded like fairy tales used to get them to eat all the food they'd put on their plates and to be wiling to wait for their first car till the law allowed them to drive it!!
Having things and privileges in that sense was simply taken for granted. Whatever the frustrations for some of them, those would take quite different forms, creating real and debilitating psychological dimension, becoming occasionally so severe as to haunt them all their lives with lasting effects.
The simple fact was that having everything meant more time for introspective mulling over more subtle effects and awareness of different kinds of real or perceived lacks in more intangible areas, while their parents still believed kids had no sensitive 'nerves' to go awry, so that they had little comprehension of kids who had almost everything having psychological issues. Fact is, if truth be known, the parents' generation had little if any concept of psychology at all; they didn't "believe in" what little they knew of it!!
There was a real "generation gap"; - no, make that a gaping chasm having less to to with age differences than with life experiences making them practically like creatures from different planets!
Sonny's story concerns some of those factors.
But first,we need to understand how it all came about. The War . . .
"Baby Boomers" Change the Graph!
And so it was that the boomers were to fill a gap when babies had been few, - first with the Depression limiting incomes and hopes of "normal" living; and then with the men of child-bearing age off fighting the WAR and the women at home working in war plants or collecting "savings stamps" to buy with ration stamps the substitutes for "things" like leather items, meager supplies of sugar, gasoline, tires, meat and other daily consumables they needed for themselves and/or for any children they already had.
"Luxuries" and "discretionary buying" were largely unheard of except among the very wealthy. Necessities - (most consumables – and all which were of of the highest quality) - were reserved for the fighting men off defending the country and the principles it had always stood for. Substitutes were found, made, or grown - or else the "home front" did without.
Uncle Sam Wants YOU!
It was regarded as a supreme privilege, though, rather than as a burden to sacrifice what one could for the sake of the effort and to assure the safe return of loved ones.
When Uncle Sam Wants YOU posters were seen, it was like a personal challenge – a call to arms, even for school-age kids. We knew we could do our small parts. We could save and invest our meager allowances to buy small denomination savings stamps to accumulate to trade in for greater value bonds. These would help finance the equipment and goods needed to wage the war and to win it.
We could happily accept lacks of the rationed items. We could help plant the family's "victory gardens" and clean our plates rather than wasting precious food. We could do what we were able to help - cheerfully. That was the mood of the country and we subscribed to it just like everyone else did.
After all, we didn’t HAVE to have leather shoes! We much preferred that "our boys overseas" should be well shod as they trod into dangerous far-off battlefields and fought for all our rights to be free Americans. Various alternatives for the rationed items would serve just as well.
No one entertained a thought that the slogans might be a bit propagandized to be sure we felt that way. In fact, we almost naturally did feel that way. Our country needed us - and that was that. Even young kids were eager to do our parts, no matter how slight they might be. At school we sang the anthems of all the branches of service, along with "Over There" and "Any Bonds Today" - ". . .bonds of freedom, that's what we're selling, any bonds today. . . ." It was heady stuff.
Ration stamps- in MY name! Mother had to sign for me, but I was entitled to a share of them
Buy Bonds - and we did!
And those young folks among us who were older and qualified to have found their future mates or to wish to find them as soon as possible just wanted them to win and come home to them more than they yearned for anything else on earth - or in heaven if that were to be a choice.
No urging was required. They WANTED to do their parts. But there were slogans and posters everywhere one went. They strengthened resolve and encouraged dedicated support of "the war effort". Jobs in war plants were filled with women old enough to work. Most had no better calling during those years and all wanted to do their bit.
Families in smaller towns having limited extra housing to accommodate the swarm of young wives who followed their husbands stationed in nearby newly opened military bases opened our homes and offered our "spare rooms" to these wives of the servicemen. If more space were needed as new arrivals came, the local families willingly sacrificed our own bedrooms and slept on sleeping porches even in the cold of winter in order to provide for momre young wives - and sometimes their children, too - of those guys not yet dispatched to the scenes of battle overseas.
One could almost feel the determination and spring-like tension in the air. Even little kids felt it. Some of us gave up our warm beds so another wife could be near her man - maybe for the last time, EVER.
She'll do her part, too. . .
So throngs of nubile young women simply kept productively occupied while waiting for the day when the guys would return to claim them in marriage. Some wives, such as those who shared our modest homes, simply worked and waited to resume the normalcy of marriages they’d already begun when war broke out. Some had even married quickly, just before the guys shipped out to do their duties.
But no one complained though all were anxious in a positive sort of way.
The nubile young single women sometimes volunteered as hostesses at the local USO (United Services Organization) which provided respite for the young servicemen stationed nearby who had no families, friends or relatives in the area. It was a place for them to go on weekend evenings, hear Big Bands music, maybe dance with a pretty girl and forget about any anxiety they might have about possibly being sent into the heat of battle in some remote and lonely part of the globe - and possibly ending their lives there.
Those young women kept themselves busy and looking pretty, both for those USO occasions, and for the day of the return of their husbands or boyfriends, if lucky enough to have them; or, if not, perhaps hopefully, to find someone some evening while pitching in at the USO. Otherwise - to be ready for the end of the war when more opportunities would be possible. Sloppiness in grooming or in personal appearance or behavior was so rare as to be unmentionable. They had grown up in traditional homes, learned manners and demeanor from full-time mothers, and expected to emulate those examples when they became mothers. Little knew they how different things would become with the end of the war and the start of technology and other sweeping changes in the aftermath of all that had preceded its hiatus.
We must bear in mind that young women of that era had no thought of remaining single or of having no families. The "career woman" was a Hollywood invention, played on the silver screens by Rosalind Russell or Bette Davis. The movies depicting the hard-nosed business women of that period were almost deliberately shown as farcical romps in which at the end the hard-hearted Hannah fell in love with the (usually nice looking but slightly bumbling) guy and happily relinquished the glitz and glamour for the comfort of having a sparkling "all electric" washing machine and "a man around the house" to boss around it. No one took these fantasies too seriously, since there were as few real examples of successful career women as there were real Mickey Mice and Popeye the Sailor men. There were none, in fact, other than these caricatures wearing tailored jackets with shoulder pads equalling Peyton Manning's or Hulk Hogan's wondrous shoulder dimensions!
But still, as changes in lifestyle after tje war began to impose on families a seeming need for "two incomes" to sustain the new affluence, at first women knew no other examples when they needed to add outside work to their roles as wives and mothers. Some of the hard-nosed attitudes seemed necessary, inasmuch as men were unused to working with women. When they'd worked in the war factories, there were virtually no men involved!
So - until they regained their natural composure and equilibrium enoujgh to establish their own ways of handling the demands of more tumultuous times, both for families and outside jobs, there were some frantic efforts along the way of discovering who and how they should be in peacetime workplaces.
They and their well-off families with and expecting so many more things began to feel the strain of increasingly more fragmented family lifestyles.
But before and toward the end of the war, reality prevailed for the time being in which real women remained aware of their destinies as simply more modern versions of traditional wives and mothers, which roles were accepted with dignity and honor, contrary to what retrospect sometimes makes of that era now.
Moreover, the experience many of them had gained by working in the factories and other positions for the war effort changed few, if any, of their basic ideals. What it did do was highlight their strength and value, bringing them far beyond the repressive roles of most women of the Depression era, and it added a valuable dimension of self-worth to their traditional roles and challenges in postwar America.
Having worked outside home successfully improved their lot in life in it but for the time being, failed to tempt them to wish to swap the home for for the golden umbrellas "up there somewhere" unless hopes for a home and family passed them by.
Women In WWII
So meantime, when the "troop trains" still pulled out of the local station, carrying the guys who had received orders to report to a dispatching hub, there were always local young women lining the platform, waving and peering anxiously into the train windows, hoping for glimpses of THIER guys waving and looking out into the throng for THEM.
Longing for normal life mounted with each month and year the war went on and with each goodbye to loved ones.
But to the younger of us, who might be there to wave goodbye to a brother being shipped out, the romance which seemed to fill the air seemed as real to us as the wartime movies of brave men having to leave brave loving women, which we could almost imagine ourselves as being. We had no real concept that the war would actually END. We were growing up with it and it seemed to determine everything which occurred.
Surreptitiously our own roles in postwar America were being shaped by circumstances of the war and its effects on people. The cacophony of our exposure to life around us would shake the roots of traditions as we moved into maturity. We held to ideals of womanly roles, yet the examples all around us were somewhat confusing. Little did any of us know that times of relative stability and familiarity were rapidly vanishing and that our generation would never be able to claim a single lifestyle for an entire lifetime.
Community tranquility was a thing of the past. Only personal tranquility was to be possible and it would be challenged continuously by an accelerating parade of mind-boggling change.
The following video gives a peek into the spirit of those times. No one loves war, I, least of all, but I believe fully in supporting our young men and women who are forced into fighting them, whose idealism encourages them to risk life and limb for what they hope will help maintain our freedom and promote it in other parts of the world. While I question the logic of that, - warring to protect and establish peaceful coexistence - I have to support and applaud the heart and hope that causes young folks with lives ahead of them, with young wives and families left to hope and pray that they will return and be "whole". They deserve our love and support - now as much as when Rae Wilson turned an obscure town in Nebraska into a citadel of hope for such young service men and women during WWII. I dare you to watch with dry eyes.
North Platte Canteen
Newsreels
We were accustomed to getting news days or even weeks after it happened, though. Even newsreels ground out stale news, spiced up with slogans and positive glowing claims of successful battles and negotiations. Nevertheless, they were the only animated coverage there were to be had. It would be another decade or so before the first televisions became available to the public and it sill took time for the news coverage to catch up with real time, and more for it to become as instantaneous as it now has become.
Timing had never been instantaneous before, though, so who knew or cared if it wasn't simultaneous with the events? But delays offered ample opportunity for media interpretation of the news that was available, creating a natural "feed" for various kinds of propaganda and opinion manipulation.
But before the war's end, in between the showing of movies in our local theaters, there still were many "short subject features" including the RKO-Pathe newsreel covering battles and diplomatic events, often with jumpy black and white film which sometimes disengaged from the projector in that little room above the audience. You'd hear a distinguishing, diminishing "flip, flip, flippp-p-p" sound as the screen went dark, leaving you in tense suspense as they fumbled around reloaded the film and finally got it started up again.
Lest we forget and Fail to Learn . . .
Needless to say, everyone was united in noble support of the war effort and rejoiced when it ended.
But as it had worn on, hearts had been heavy for countless separated lovers, especially when night fell and anxieties returned to delay much needed sleep. These young men and women, as well as other family members of servicemen, were alike all sworn to secrecy regarding their fellows' locations, lest critical information be leaked inadvertently into enemy ears. Posters advising "sealed lips" were rampant. It was a nation gripped by one purpose - successfully ending the war and winning the peace. Those were not empty slogans for any of us. And reality clarified many of the glossed-over issues which became more apparent to us as the wars dragged on and more and more lives were lost. We knew there needed to be a better way to settle conflicts. But we didn't know how. It was an age-old dilemma which no generation ever can fully escape, nor has any succeeded in resolving it.
The ravages wrought by nations settling differences on battlefields are never escaped by the families and environs of civilians back home, either. There is a toll which has no measure and is felt for many years by many people far into the aftermath.
Certainly any of us who were among pre-war, pre-baby boomers who vividly remember that shared spirit of unity, purpose and dedication to a cause which seemed reasonable, sometimes have trouble with a prevailing angst and dismissal regarding our country's better motives and ideals and we must grieve for the loss of innocence of those times.
Even being realistic with clarity of vision to observe what seems to be a dramatic decline in ideals as well as an emptiness of purer motives, - still those bright and shining memories of the citizens' honest support of a purposeful effort by earnest fighting men in times of great stress are etched into us and are hard to remove. We need to feel as that felt, even in the face of evidence to the contrary that it was as honest and well-intentioned as we thought then. This yearning is apolitical; it's born not of desire for more clever manipulation of answers to perplexing problems to justify selfish motives, but of the quest for answers, answers based on common sense and reason rather than hasty habitual resort to the taking up of arms whenever anything seems unsolvable.
What we most earnestly desire - and would hope to share with those of later generations - is the restoration of, - or the institution of - real honor and justice both here and abroad.
We fervently hope to be able to work with other nations to achieve it for all, everywhere - not just in our own back yards.
Supreme sacrifices . . .
So that being said and the background for our story being painted with broad strokes and dramatic colors, - let us get on with the story of the late boomer we'll simply call Sonny.
You see, the war did come to a close, although to many of us, the manner in which it ended was a tragedy in itself. More lives were lost in the H-bomb tragedy than had ever been lost in a single bombing, if not in any single battle ever waged. It was intended to stop the ongoing parade of tragic seemingly endless battles with countless lost lives which were in progress. But to many of us, it was much too high a cost in innocent human lives to have deliberately paid, knowing there was no recourse for them
Once done, though, it was done. The war ended on that front and soon would end on all others. Our surviving brothers, dads, kinsmen and friends over there, soon began to come back home to us. Sweethearts began to be reunited and soon afterwards, babies began again to be born - in record numbers . . .
So next you will meet our boomer and his family.
Yes, The Boom was ON! And postage was cheap!
See Next. . .: Magnolia-opus 1
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Nellieanna, you've set the stage with your usual attention to detail and engaging narrative style...looking forward to the next installment! :)
Great hub Nellieanna - I'm very interested in WWII and believe we need to know the truths - when I was at school history only covered upto 1900 which wasn't good. I've read quite a bit, been to Auschwitz and Berlin, and watched many war movies and more true to life documentaries - currently watching a Uk tv series about the serial bombings we were subjected to in this country - millions of people here lost their homes and everything but everyone rallied. Though people need to know it wasn't all jovial spirit, sentimental war songs and silk stockings on ration!
Oh, my, granmarye. Now that is tragic to have missed out on the highlights of being a baby boomer, though technically you qualify. It's especially bad if you miss out on old age care, not that it's all that magnificent. But it is something for one's lifetime of contributions.
Thangs again for visiting my hub and commenting. I just posted it a few hours ago, so it's gratifying to have your comments. One never knows how one will be received!
Nellieanna - You have few peers when it comes to descriptive, image-sharing writing. Thanks for evoking so many memories of the 40s and providing a stroll down Memory Lane for me.
i couldnt imagine living back then.
Thank you, drbj for enjoying it and telling me so. And what a lovely compliment! Thank you for that - it means much to me, coming from you!
The memories of that time are sensory almost. It was an era one "had to be there" to experience as it was. I was just 9 when my 4th grade music class on Dec. 8th was interrupted by the sound system which rebroadcast President Roosevelt's announcement in case we all hadn't heard it: - the "day of imfamy" speech from the day before. Everyone didn't have radios, and of course - that was 'it' for audio news in that era.
The class had been singing the song, "Ruben,Ruben, I've Been Thinking" - in which the girls sang the verse to the boy, "Ruben", and the boys sang the retort to "Rachel, Rachel" Each part went on to say, "....what a strange world this would be, if the (boys/girls) were all transported far beyond the Northern Sea." Such were the specifics of memories and impressons during those days. Our music classes for the next several years never sang lightweight songs after that day. It was only music related to the war effort from then on. By the time the war was over, I was in Glee Club and we didn't sing war songs there. But there were so many personal memories and impressions of that period which related to the war only remotely, yet had such vivid connections for the one having them.
It's nice to share those memories with someone who lived through that time too.
Nikki - welcome here, gal! Thanks!
No - it would be difficult, I believe to imagine oneself actually living in any other era though it is interesting to consider it at times.
When I was your age, I felt that way about earlier times. haha -
My parents were born in 1890 and 1892 and had me considerably later in their lives, so I had a lot of eras to consider, with siblings much older than I, as well. I'd listen and try to fathom what they were talking about - but a lot of it just made no sense!
My eldest sister was born in 1918! She was quite beautiful and had a bevy of beaus. But to me, she had a whole other idea of being a young woman, of how to dress & behave which often seemed to me to be playing a game of acting coy and disguising her intelligence because guys didn't like smart girls! Can you even IMAGINE that? Yet I do owe her a debt of gratitude for some lessons she did give me. So everything has its pros and cons, I suppose.
Anyway - I understand very well what you mean when you say you couldn't imagine living back then! Trust me - later someone will be unable to imagine living in today's world and you'll have to smile too.
Jamie - thanks! Glad to hear you're interested in WWII. I agree that truth is needed - about this war and all wars our country has been or is engaged in.
Even if history in your classes HAD covered past 1900, I suspect it would not have covered the "truth, the straight truth and nothing but the truth" about it - or about any other period, especially the wars and what led up to them - and what they left in their wakes.
I couldn't agree more that they are not to be romantized. Most certainly they are not jovial, although the people participating have to try to see the lighter side or go mad and sentiment is an involuntary response to first-hand experience of most any sort. Those aren't by any means all there is to it. But they are part of it for those to whom they're a part.
I love history too. I'm passionate about WWll history, as well as Will & Ariel Durant's many volumed "Story of Civilization". One of it's special features is telling in depth more of what it was like for the people living during the various epochs. But the authors were considerate enough to use a smaller, more distinctive font for the passages like that which were less crucial to the "big picture" of the history-determining events of the time. That way - one could read for just the information parts alone OR also enjoy the aside-trips into the lives that the events were touching. It is a charming way to relate his - story. After all, it is a multi-faceted story.
I have an online friend (he should be a hubber!) who came into view in a group by telling of his own birth - it was in 1939 in London DURING the blitz. He was born and immediately the family had to make for the bomb shelter. On another siege they were unable to get to the shelter due ot rubble in the path and had to made do by hiding under the heavy dining table in the house. It saved their lives because the bomb shelter was annihilated! The house was all but destroyed as well - but the little area where they hid under the table was spared! His Dad had written the details in a book he wrote in tribute to his children's mother. I had a chance to read the whole book and their odyssey was mind-boggling.
So I have some idea of what that was like in that seige of the city, as well of the spirit which rose to the challenges which followed.
I despise war and am sad for the dispostion to settle differences with violence. As my beloved husband (who was in the navy in the South Pacific during all of WWII - and in attendance at many of the major battles there) - as he always said, "Come, let us reason together" I've made a series of pages on my own website about his WWII experiences which you might enjoy, too! I pieced it together from hearing him speak of it, finding some things in the scapbook his mother kept about his experiences while he was living them and filled in some of the blanks from online research. Amazingly enough, I've received mail from others who were on his ship, LST 715! One happened to become a major Civil Rights Attorney later during the black protests in the US, and had become a law professor emeritus at Columbia University. He was just another "gob" on the ship on which my George was second in command! Other inquiries have come from relatives of sailors on that ship, as well.
You always do such a great job on your homework, nelieanna! I remember growing up with green stamps, the draft, gas shortages, and a lot more - being one of those boomers myself! Seems like we were told that there was no shame in a job well done, but there was plenty of shame in sitting on your rear waiting for a handout. Beautiful and eloquent - Thank you!
Thank you so much, Michelle! It was fun writing & I'm exicted abouta getting on with the "rest of the story" this was background to, though in a slightly surprising way, I think!
Yes, I did homework collecting graphics and videos to fit, but the script itself needed no research, being all first-hand from having been there and picking up details from my "elders" - my siblings and my late husband, who were all at least a decade older than me. Vivid memories.
I've heard it said that events when one is entering the teen years impress one the most, and I guess it must be so. There are many more snippets of memories about that time, such as the V-Mail my brother-in-law sent me from Italy and my brother's return home from his service in Manilla. I designed and made a dress for the occasion. I as 13 and it wasn't a professional result - but it was my first of many to come.
I rermember, also - the dinner table discussions starting when the Depression was still a problem and "solutions" included setting up assistance for out-of-work people, "down on their luck" There were many uncompromising opinions about & much disdain for the "new deal" practices of handing out & the waiting for handouts. My dad was in agrigulture and it was never easy - but never ever would he have considered a so much as a nickel of government assistance programs of any kind. I've wondered what my parents would have thought about the developments of the current era. Best they weren't faced with it!
I must admit I'm more liberal than they were but I do believe the need for the amounts of aid now would be much much less, had a more conservative program been instituted earlier on & had folks been encouraaged to shoulder their own burdens more effectively.
Anyway - nothing is so black & white as it seemed then, & reality says it must be dealt with as it IS, not as it used to be or would be ideally.
Thanks so much for your gracious comments!!
Wonderful hub - you've brought that period to life - love the pictures, so reminiscent of that era!
Thank you much for your visit and comments, Shalini!! I apprecite that!!
Nellieanna as usual your story telling is unmatched, so descriptive and breath taking. You are a weaver of words and one can not help but breath in every word. I was born in 1948 my dad was in the War and I listened to many of the big band era around my house and heard awful stories of the events over there. My dad was wounded but survived to tell us many scary stories. Thank you for sharing with excellent videos as well, I thoroughly enjoyed, brought back many memories of growing up just past the war years.
Thank you much for your opinion of this story!! Your compliments are much treasured Glad you felt a connection with the focus of the hub, espcially.
Ah, saddlerider. Yes I key in to your era: I graduated from high school (at a younger-than-average age) the very year you were born! ( . . . )
Both wartime & postwar of thie particular war were most special times in my own life and are the real focus of my story to follow, whose hero is to be born about that year during the post-war period which influenced the aftermath of the war's dramatic footprints.
I think that you write with so much passion and intelligence, I studied demography and the baby boomers really changed the curve of birth rates here hehe, Nice take and way of presenting the story of baby boomes, Thank you Mam, I had a birthday yesterday, I am 40 Mam, Maita
Nice job very good hub in presenting baby boomers and the war. I am at the very end of the baby boomers but I am still considered one. Yes these men and woman were from the greatest generation and they should be proud, I know I am proud of my parents and family for getting through this war one way or another. Cheers.
Maita~ HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!! Hope it was a joyous one.
Thanks for the visit to the hub and for your comments. I'm eager to hear perspective from boomers who lived it as well as you who look back on it with interest and effort to fathom its effects.
Undoubtedly the Boomers' effect on demongraphics was dramatic. That generation impacted the world with so many major changes from music, to science, to invention, to electronics(!!) & on & on. It's likely that those changes would have occurred much more slowly - if at all - had it not been for the acceleration & super-challenging effects on that generation set into motion by the War & moving forward from that momentum.
At the same time - the impact of the time on THEM - their psychological makeup and self-awarenesswas dramatically felt, as well perhaps not always easy for them & sometimes debilitating. There were some alarming reactions & repsonses too.
My interest in it now is to shine more light on both ends of focus. Can't pretend to be viewing it academically. Just to better understand its effects on people.
There's much which might be examined & from various perspectives. All I bring to it is my impressions & vantage point.
The Prologue simply lays the background.
So thanks for your input! It helps!
Hello, LadyJane - thanks for stopping by to check the hub! I'm very interested in your comments. If you were born to parents who had participated themselves in the WAR effort, the boomer classification & effects apply. That's the important qualification to be a boomer. Probably the direct effects become less personal to their children as the time passes & parents mellow, though.
Boomers who experienced those first effects after it ended & their parents had just emerged from it with their own sharp memories as they began to resume their lives - possibly felt it more intensely.
Waves of effects & reactions gathered momentum in the bigger picture though & inspired as well as taking tolls on future penerations.
There's been a momentum ever since though details fade.
But I'm sure all who know or have known vets feel proud & at least vaguely aware of all the myriad of effects of the war and the influences on & of its men & women.
Perhaps this applies to all wars, but the WWII was the last "traditional" war & the last truly "world war". Its after-effects have risen again & again, gathered momentum to erupt into the waves of wars which have followed.
It barely left time for one - or for people - to recover before another began.
Hi Angel Face! What a meticulous piece of work you did here and how interesting you managed to make it! I did not know that you were working on such a large project and I am humbled that you left your work to help me with mine when I asked for your opinion. But I am also upset that you did not see fit to tell me that you had published another hub, ready for reading. Thank you for this hub and thank you for your kindness and for your generosity :-)
DG - Thank you! It was an interesting time - lots of imagery experienced from my own young viewpoint at the time. I hadn't really thought with much focus how deeply it impressed me. Can only imagine how it must have been for those actively participating. My focus on that time began now in trying to better understand how it impacted those who came afterwards. I'll be highlighting them as the story unfolds. It's one of those projects which grabbed me, not vice versa, y'know?
As to finding it was finally published, I know how it is. I'm only just now consistently remembering to check my email for announcemnts so I can follow up on all new hubs published by the folks I'm following. I'm embarrassed at announcements I surely must have overlooked before I started checking more regularly & of course reading thoroughly when following up. So not to worry! Of course!- it was my pleasure & honor to be asked to give my opinion of yours! What a good & amusing piece too! Was a fun break! Just glad I was online then! I surely didnt' need to be pushy about mine. Only mentioned that I've been busy - taking care of my stuff - nothing unusual about that. So thank YOU for coming by & reading my hub, best friend. :)
Your Hub was very well done. It made me have many thoughts of the stories my older family members have told me.
Thank you also for becoming one of my followers. I know that I will be reading all your works in the days to come. I really enjoyed your HUB! Thank you.
Thank you, BJ - It's amazing to me when I stop to think about it now, that the majority of people alive now were not alive during that time. It was certainly a memorable period of history!
I just read your hub about the ghost and the kittens. Quite a story!
Thank you for visiting mine and becoming my follower, too.
I agre with you Mam, it is best to examine it with emotions not always academically, it make sense and for your greeting Mam about my bday, Thank you!
I am grateful and want to thank you for reaidng my hubs, I know at times I am late in responding but I read all your comments and I appreciate it very much,
Take care and HUGS,
You are one of the hubber I admire most because of intelligence, sophisticated ways of analyzing things, but with emotions and a heart plus elegance too, Maita
wow, Maita! Most kind words there! Not sure if I can pull myself up to try to fit those high praises!
I just read you new hub about the actresses who come from Canada. I enjoyed the one about the actors yesterday. I voted them UP, too.
My comments to your hubs are never shown there immediately though; - they have to be approved before I see them, so I don't always check back to see if they made the grade - LOL. If your responses are late in coming, I don't even know it!
You've been good to me to read my hubs since I was a brand-newbie, almost - so I'm more than pleased to read yours! Plus - they're always well-written & interesting.
Thanks!!
You come up to my expectations Mam, I always approve your comments, they are well thought of and very pisitive. Thank you Mam, Maita
Thank you! I only give honest opinions. And it's easy to give positive ones when writing is as straightforward and advice is as valuable as yours!
Nellieanna,
What a beautifully written hub. Although I was born a baby boomer, I was somewhat in that trap but only for a very short while.
I can tell you, six years, the six years I was married and living in the US, from the Philippines.
I learned rather quickly to get out. My background of having been raised on a farm helped.
However, it did not help with my raising my son in a very small town of privileged population.
No matter what it is that he sees at home..a simple lifestyle...he is still seduced by what he sees outside.
I cannot help it.
I only hope that he will remember our discussions when he is mature enough and caring for his own family.
I love your background on the life of Sonny...I wait for the next segment...
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Melinda! It was quite a period which had many different effects. My brother was stationed in Manilla during th war. Not sure if I've mentioned that to you. he loved it over there so much he really was considering staying after the war and getting started in agriculture there. But our Dad was counting on his coming home and working at our own ranch, which he did. It was a fairly rocky path for him but being of his generation, he made the most of it for himself. His children had some rougher times. They're not the focus of my story but I'm sure I may take them into consideration in the portrayals.
I'd bet that your son will put things together. It can be a challenge, for sure. One thing we must be assured of is that the world is going to be a huge challenge for the kids coming up now. I see it in my own post-boomers who're gettng into their mid-50s, my grandkids & great grandkids. I have to hear them where they are in order to have any influence whatsoever.
What's funny is that my grands & I relate better than my own & I!! LOL. I've heard that it's the middle generation who's the "common enemy". haha - it's a joke but there's a kernel of truth in it.
Thanks for posting your response Melinda! I value it greatly!
Even if we could somehow open their heads & pour in our wisdom and lessons - they'll need vastly others during their own lifetimes. Building a foundation on their own lessons too is crucial for them if they're to be prepared.
What a joyous forty-ish minutes or so I just spent. There are so many things I could say to this, but I think I'll just point at the loss of innocence thing. I'mma paste a big fat chunk of your own writing here:
Even being realistic with clarity of vision to observe what seems to be a dramatic decline in ideals as well as an emptiness of purer motives, - still those bright and shining memories of the citizens' honest support of a purposeful effort by earnest fighting men in times of great stress are etched into us and are hard to remove. We need to feel as that felt, even in the face of evidence to the contrary that it was as honest and well-intentioned as we thought then. This yearning is apolitical; it's born not of desire for more clever manipulation of answers to perplexing problems to justify selfish motives, but of the quest for answers, answers based on common sense and reason rather than hasty habitual resort to the taking up of arms whenever anything seems unsolvable.
That is such deep, deep thinking, such amazing truth given from a perspective that is not only wise and intelligent, but that was THERE then and HERE now with equal lucidity. This such a rare confluence of temporal locus, for one. And one that is articulate and participating in this digital place. But, beyond that, just... all I can think of is to point at the same damn books I always point at and go, "Yes, exactly." You and Thucydides are kindred souls.
Also, kinda random, but, I was an art major the first time I tried college. As I journeyed through this hub, I paused on the poster of Uncle Sam. Looked into the eyes, viewed that poster through the eyes not only of a trained artist, but of a salesman, a writer, an artist... and, with the emotional place this hub creates take the read to... anyway.
So, yeah, just, nice work and thanks for some fine entertainment this evening. :)
magnificent! can't wait to read more.
Shades - it humbles me to read your response, knowing as I'm beginning to, your mind and spirit. Thank you!
I like to think that the loss of one kind of "innocence" makes way for a closer look & more real understanding. It was nice to have been there, honestly thinking we were on the side of right as we did. But we had to - still have to - move past that, - to a time of less either/or and more both sides being right, or at least valid as far as we know and hopefully, with a willingness to consider that there really can be more than one "right" viewpoint - considering how many jillions of viewpoints there are at any given time!
Thanks again for taking time to read and comment so kindly! And by the way - I'm discovering some treasures among your hubs!! I'll never think of jello the same way again!
And what other facets you possess - artist too! Yes - I see what you mean about the Uncle Sam poster. Visual rhetoric?
Michael!! How pleased I am to see you and to see you made a comment! I'd so hoped you'd find time to have a read!! Thanks for it! I can't wait to write more too! I think about it all the time!
Amongst all the giants of writing here, I'm doing a lot of reading & learning! But Magnolia is dear to my heart! It's weathered many a storm and stood firm! :) Hugs, my dear!
Excellent hub on a great period of American history. I think you've inspired me to write about life in the 1960s!
I loved the background to 'boomer' - I have learnt so much from it that we should all know about in the generations that followed. The war years were incredible years of hardship, bonding and survival - and without fuss. Great hub.
Habee - I'd love to see you write about life n the 1960s!
That was a most important and life-changing time, too! Nothing would ever be the same again, in fact. Thanks for visiting my hub!
Billy - thank you for visiting my site & so glad you felt that it contributes to understanding of that time & the presonal attitudes and then its contribution future generations.
Nellieanna I have been negleting your Hubs and that is a crime. As a Baby Boomer from this side of the pond it is an eye opener to read this because we were given a false sense of reality because how American troops appeared to have so much more than ours.
It was no wonder that they turned female heads with nylons and Hershey bars much to the resentment of the local male population.
Our history teaches us how our parents and grandparents suffered two World Wars and a ecconomic depression.
As their children we never knew that level of hardship, I know rationing was still in force in Britain when I was young, but I can't remember doing without.
You have such a wonderful clear way of bringing that past back to life and I hope the children of the Boomers and their children read your stories and learn from them.
Thanks, Merlin! I recall seeing movies during the war of the American soldiers in countries over there - especially the UK. And of course the movies featured the lovely girls over there falling for our guys. No doubt back here women of that age group were none too happy about losing guys they might have won when they returned. So it was two-way.
But I rememer, even as a young teen, thinking about the movies depicted our guys as being pretty arrogant over there & wondering about it. I was also aware that not too many people seemed to notice that. Then we'd hear of other countries resenting the "ugly Americans" & of course - I didn't see that where I was & wondered what it was all about. But over the years, I began to notice an "attitiude" among some everyday people which was rather "horsey" the way those war-time movies showed it. Always wondered how much life follows art or vice-versa.
Those nylons, Hershey bars & chewing gum were not available to the folks back home! They were all reserved for the troops who were giving up so much! hmmm. The nylons my mother and sisters couldn't buy were supposed to be contributing to making parachutes for the "flyboys"!! I guess they could buy the stockings at the PX. Oddly - they showed that in the movies but not in a way that reflected on the guys, more on the people who were so desperate to get them. . . These are not the kinds of things that foster good international relations. So many problems can possibly be traced back to just such slights & suble propaganda, huh?
We lived right on the Mexico border and could go across the river and buy some of the things that were rationed on the US side, though. I wore a lot of 'huaraches' to school during those days (Mexican woven leather-strip closed-toe sandals) when we couldn't buy leather goods on our side. Mother bought sugar to can fruit over there and Dad bought his daughters French perfume over there for Christmas gifts. Interesting special feature of my life. But it really ywas a time of denial of many normally taken-for-granted goods.
I have a 2nd Magnolia segment published & am getting the 3rd segment ready to publish. Thanks for visiting & for the nice comments!
It's true there was a lot of local resentment when American troops first arrived in Britain. Like you they had little idea of what the people had been through during the past 3 or 4 years. Indeed why should they know?
By British standards American troops wore better clothes, they were better fed and better paid.
The famous slogan of the time was:
"Over Paid, Over Sexed and Over Here !
It was a clash of cultures, The British Lion full of stiff upper lips meets the brash youngster Uncle Sam.
I look forward to reading part two, it's wonderfully educational as it fills in many gaps.
Good! And it's good to be able to air the old antagonisms, even if they were of an earlier generation. I still notice that our troops in other countries appear to have advantages the people don't have. But imagine the uproar back at home if our boys were not given all the support they could be given under the circumstances. What a complicated matter. I suppose it's always been the way - whether it was the Greeks, the Romans, the British or Spanish going into other countries with troops - they were as well furnished as possible away from home. I dunno. The solution is no more war!!!
Thanks again, Andy - I appreciate your comments very much!
Nellieanna, This is fantastic! Being a late-boomer (I love that) I never understood, let's be honest, I was too busy wanting and acquiring to desire to understand, the sacrfices that were made by the souls like my mother and father, and before them, my grandparents. For the most part, we boomers were definitely the gimme, gimme, gimme crowd. The way you set this piece up is masterful, and I am hopelessly, helplessly hooked for the next. I need to jump over and fan/follow! Well done and thumbs up!
I was born in 52 and some rationing carried on until 55 in the UK.We were a priviledged generation though
Linda - I understand. My perspective is to pinpoint & understand that chasm that seemed to divide the boomers from really KNOWING their parents and vice-versa.
I feel that have a certain advantage of perspective, having lived with the parents' generation (my much older siblings) as I was growing up & experiencing the gap, - though still observing & understanding their views when they were my elders & dominant in my life. Then I knew & observed their children as aunt, without being directly involved.
I finally had my own children on the "tail-end" of official boomer years but mine weren't boomers by definition. Still, the changes that were wrought by the whole earlier situation hadn't eased up, and possibly had worsened. Quite possibly many of today's family challenges grew out of it.
My beloved late husband (not the father of my children) was the age of my elder siblings, all being in & of the War years & having real boomer children right after it.
Over the years I could observe a lot of what has recently become crystallized in my mind about that gap that really existed which was no one's fault! Parents thought they were doing the right things and applying the right standards but didn't realize they weren't "taking" and that the new generation was nurturing each other. But I knew my husband's kindness and earnest wish to be a good parent, & for the most part, he was. But I could see the gaps in progress intimately.
I believe the acquisitiveness of the boomer generation may have grown of the sense of both overexpectation from the parents and a certain inability to reach across it and supply the new geneation with less materialistic evidence of their genuine love and to compete with their discovery of their own mutual needs.
Anyway - I am trying. I'm very pleased that you're finding it interesting and - I hope - maybe a bit enlightening.
Ethel - what an honor for you to visit my hub. I just glanced at your page and am full of admiration for the thrust of your interests. No question about it - the postwar generation was privileged in so many ways. Of course I'm only familiar first-hand with how it was over here. It's good to know more about how it was there. I have an online friend who was literally born during the London Blitz of 1939 and almost died with his parents there. It had to be a harrowing time. But the strong character of the people triumphed in very deep ways. Thanks again fof visiting and hope you'll come back!
What a lovely writer you are! I deeply admire what you've done here in laying out the history and weaving in such interesting pictures and videos. Bravo! It's a pleasure to get to know you and your writing better. :)
Thank you, Pam! I appreciate that! From such an artful writer as yourself, indeed high praise!
Nellie - this is wonderful, really! I was born on the day the Scharnhorst was sunk (still wanting to do a Hub on that!) and so WW2 history is very interesting to me. My father was in the SA Navy, stationed for most of the time on Robben Island where he was in charge of anti-submarine defences in the South Atlantic and trained the women of the Navy, called Swans in South Africa, like the Royal Navy's Wrens.
Thanks for this gerat read. Will get onto the others in due course.
Love and peace
Tony
Tony - I'm most pleased that you stopped and read this hub. I hope you do write about that historic day you were born! I have a friend who was born during the London Blitz and his father wrote about that event.
Those days of WWII were monumental in so many respects. My emphasis is on how it affected the next generation and those to follow, but to show what I think made the effect more than the war per se is the way it divided the lives from before it from those which followed in a very unique way.
Women in the Navy in the US were called Wavs. The Army women were Wacs. There are still a few of those women Vets living, in fact. Very inspiring people!
Nellieanna,
Reading this brought back memories of being in junior high and watching war films...Rosie the Riveter was one of them. Even though we didn't understand why they were constantly showing us these films about Hitler and WWII, I think now it was to create a sense of pride and realize how lucky we were to not have lived through those times. Yet, there was something so romantic about it in the sense of community that evolved and people working together, having a joint sense of purpose.
It is interesting that my husband's family are from Coventry and Warwickshire England. Coventry was flattened during WWII. The Cathedral ruins still stand today as a reminder of that horrible night in November. Yet, it was the resolve of the people of Coventry that led them to fight back harder and with more determination than ever. I don't think I ever really had a grasp of the impacts of war until visiting Dachau in the 80s and now living in Britain. seeing first-hand the ruins from the devastation caused by the bombing.
You tell this story so well and I can feel the energy and emotion of the time. I am looking forward to reading the next installment.
Thanks so much for sharing your own first-hand remembrance of that time, Margit. My initial purpose in writing "Magnolia" was to tell the story of the little boy planting the tree and some of his life-long struggles with conditions which I recently came to realize somehow were set up by the aftermath of that war.
It seemed essential to first tell of those who were actively involved IN the war & who they were as individuals, in order to sort out what happened - at least here in this country - to the new generation of Americans they produced as rapidly as they could upon returning home. I have feelings for both those generations, yet am not one of either. Perhaps it gives me a special vantage point to look and see them with a clarity perhaps neither of them could have.
Anyway - I've been pleased that many - though only a few older folks who were there (probably because there are so few of us participating in HubPages!)- who have come forth from those times to comment. Many are in or were in the countries affected by those bloody battles & the destruction of their countryside and way of life. They've generously responded to the imagery & my look at the war & its challenging aftermath through my humble, but heart-felt, story here.
It only goes to illustrate how many levels & layers of subjective experience were happening all over a world where a WORLD war was waged after which nothing could be quite the same again as it had been before that war. Moreover - it's surely true of all wars, even in more limited areas of battle.
I can imagine the feelings it must arouse for you to see those ruins near where you are, as well as to observe the inspiring recovery and triumph over the devastation of it by the people there to rise and restore orderly life, even though probably changed in many ways.
Thanks for coming and reading and commenting! I greatly appreciate it!!
Nellieanna,
I do not quite have first-hand experience of living through the war as I came along a few years later. My parents were children during WWII. My grandfather was a minister which meant that he did not serve in the military. My grandmother was a seamstress who was involved in sewing for the cause - I am still not sure what that meant. Someday, I should research this and find out what she actually did. I know that when I was a child, long after the war, she continued to work as a seamstress for a number of years but for private textile companies. It is surprising to me that even though my grandparents on both sides did live through the war, they never talked about what they went through, who they knew who lost loved ones, the fear that must have been pervasive during those years before the Nazis were defeated. I don’t know why they didn’t talk about it. Certainly, it cannot because they weren’t impacted by it – everyone was impacted by it. But, maybe they wanted to forget about it – which is a shame.
I agree with you that it is important to tell the story because war has its own legacy and, as you so rightly pointed out, has its own subjective meaning to those who experienced it in whatever ways that experience came to them.
My husband’s father was in the artillery. At 19 years old, during the night of he blitz he was among those who were trying to shoot down the German bombers. My husband's mother, only 18 years old at the time, was an Air Raid Patrol Warden who made sure that all the general population were safe in the bunkers and underground shelters scattered around the city. They both survived the blitz and they passed on this experience to others as you imagine that after going through such a shocking and terrifying experience, they would do.
The most touching display at the Coventry Cathedral is the Cross of Nails which is a cross made from two huge metal nails that held the wooden beams of the cathedral roof together and that survived the bombing. Coventry has been named the City of Peace and Reconcilation. Beneath the Cross of Nails is a statement of forgiveness on their attackers. It is nearly impossible to walk around those ruins and to not be affected by it. On the night attack, November 14, 1940, the cathedral was bombed and had caught fire. The sandstone of the cathedral was so hot that it was glowing red, acting as a beacon for the German bombers.
In case you are interested, here is some more information about it:
oh - I honestly didn't think you had first-hand experience of the war years perse, but of the actual devastation it left behind in the countryside. That's so much more graphic and can be actually experienced for many years afterward more than the more subtle mental and emotional effects many people here had. My purpose has been to try to show those more invisible consequences of war in a clearer light.
I was pretty sure you're much too young to have been there THEN. I guess I assumed my meaning would be clearer than I made it!
Your grandmother probably made some of the uniforms or fatiques, perhaps, for the servicemen. Or, possibly she sewed to raise funds to buy equipment. You should find out. That's intriquing! Interesting that the father of my friend who was born in the blitz was a textile worker at the time! This is giving me goose-bumps!
I recall the extreme caution here not to speak about one's loved ones in the war theaters. There were supposedly enemy spies trying to pick up bits of information that might serve their purposes. There was such a hush-hush atmosphere, and perhaps more so over there, closer to the Axis countries. Think? Actually there was not a lot of discussion about it after the war here either. Only in later years with my late husband when I decided to make the webpages about his service in the Navy did he tell me much. He had a document in his possession which was rated 'top secret' about strategy. So there was much caution in the air.
I'm digging out my own observations as a nine year old when the US entered the war till it was over when I was 13.
Click my name please!
Gail
Nellieanna,
So sorry, my misunderstanding (or misreading) about my first hand experience!
That is an interesting coincidence about your friend's father working in textiles. You may be right about what my grandmother was doing.
Now that you mention it, it is very possible that it was meant to be hush-hush. But, I would have thought that they would have at least mentioned people they knew who had died in the war or they might have mentioned it in the fifteen to twenty years after the war ended. But, maybe, as life had gone on, they were consumed by other things and just didn't feel that they wanted or needed to talk about it.
I like your approach to the "invisible" consequences which sometimes have a much greater and lasting impact! I am just amazed at the detail at which you remember all of this! You really take the reader there with your vivid detail and re-creation of the events!
I was in process of replying to all of your comments when I got a call from my friend, Gail. I'd encouraged her to join HubPages - and she said that she had joined but hadn't posted anything & wasn't sure how to access her account. So I suggested she post a comment on here so I could follow up on the post and find her account. That is MGP, who did that just between my comment and your next one. Somehow my e-mail notice of the new comment from her says it's an unverified account, though she received an email welcoming her. So now she'll try to track down what happened. I do hope she will soon be active so I can follow her! In any case that is why my reply to you was cut short abruptly! I went ahead and posted what I had so I could talk to her on the phone. We had a lot to talk about! :)
Yes, I agree - it's puzzling why many folks didn't talk much about it. Many veterans who witnessed buddies dying were unable to talk about it and probably civilians who were in the actual ground zero where the bombs fell may have had the same sort of traumatized feelings about seeing people die around them. And the "stiff upper lip" was a feature of many folks of that generation too. Perhaps it still is.
I definitely want to visit that website about Coventry. What a story is there I'm sure. When we visited the UK - in Essex and our hosts took us around to some most interesting places, one was Dover. It was almost etherial, the feel of history that happened there. In fact - I just felt a "tingle" from head to foot which only occurs when I am aware of something very unordinary touching my spirit. It was such a place. I can imagine that feeling would be associated with Coventry as you describe it.
Thank you for your kind words amd for sharing the insights you have too!
The southern belle part of me that loves Magnolias had to see what this hub was about. Boy, I'm glad that I did; what a great storyline of history. The patriotism of that era, literally stands out on the page. Thanks for sharing your unique talents of writing with the HP community. :)
Thank YOU, MG!! The story really is about magnolias - later. But the historic background is essential, and I'm glad I really got into it. Many readers have appreciated it! It was a unique time of our history! Thanks for the encouragement!
You paint......with words!
Aw, raisingme - you do me great honor, reading my hubs and leaving encouragement! Thank you!
Nellieanna Ma'm I really admit that when I decided to read your article from the starting I did not know that I am in for such a grand writing ,that is a real great one and I salute for that.
Thank you, suny! Very nice to hear!! Hope you read more of this Magnolia story! I'd be honored.
Hi Nellie,
I was really fascinated by your description--beneath the Uncle Sam poster--of the general feeling toward helping the 'boys overseas.' If you're addressing generation gaps, here's a frightening one to think about. Compared to the naively self-sacrificing and patriotic attitude of that era and the deeply cynical attitudes of today. Could you imagine how such propaganda posters would be (conceptually) torn apart today? Especially here online. Nobody is allowed to be naive anymore. That's probably a good thing in many ways, but it still saddens me.
Anyway, this whole piece is beautifully-written. I also liked your comments. They're very illuminating.
Cheers!
Arthur - Oh yes. That's part of the point I'm making in writing the Magnolia series. Not only that enormous change between then - in the early WWII days, as you point out - the comments under that poster - and today! It's a dramatic difference!
I was a kid then. That was really truly how everyone thought. It's amazing what a general promotion - call it propaganda - but it was effective PR, for sure, can accomplish. The best comparison that comes to mind now is how the health craze has everyone rushing to the doctor for every little thing and taking meds like a lifeline! LOL - that is also very effective propaganda - PR. hehe
But for the war effort, I honestly thought about it the same way & was only 9 when the war began. It didn't occur to anyone to question it. We wanted to do our parts for the sake of our country. Totally. wow
It saddens me that the innocent attitudes have so changed, although what saddens me more is that probably even then, the ideal was just that - an ideal, rather than the reality. No one could have even begun to imagine or consider any other reality, though, in fact. Nowadays it's hard to imagine how that could have been!
Then, too, I notice that some of that ideal was pure arrogance. I did notice that when I saw the movies being made then - our guys WERE arrogant in the countries of our allies! I wondered about that even nas a kid.
Yes - I can imagine how the "war effort" as it was then would be received now! Though you know that there now are many people who would receive it in almost the same way as back then, though I sense that it is without the same conviction & dedication of heart as it was then. I sense it's more of a "position" or a political attitude, whereas then it was a really personal heartfelt commitment.
And now it's become part of a tragic polarization overshadowing everything, which is quite scary, really.
How good it would be if the "sides" could just "sit down and reason together". sigh
The generation gap which began immediately when the "boys" returned, having the same idealistic perspective they had when they left (and taking it for granted), but with new conditions which limited or prevented it from being passed down to their Boomers was how it began.
What was passed down was a much more materialistic, kind of "keep up with the Joneses", "get ahead" ethic, which the returning heroes were caught up in and the new generation just absorbed that, plus they fed off each other's views, whereas before, it was family who set the standards and instilled the ideals for each new crop of people.
Anyway - sometimes the victims among the Boomers, the brand-new generation, were kids who didn't quite get the "get-ahead" message and were virtually left behind, almost bull-dozed to the side, or at best, they floundered & failed to get a clear self-image. Others of the generation rebelled, all of which led many to become a Beat Generation, anti-establishment, etc. It wasn't anti-old ideals (which they didn't really have much exposure to!) so much as anti-materialism, which had overshadowed their lives since birth!
Then it led to the sense of entitlement among their kids. You can't imagine how different that is from the pre-war views! No one felt entitled to anything that hadn't been earned or sacrificed for!
In my view, that break after the war set into motion the developmments ever since, more than any other one impetus or catalyst.
I really appreciate your comments! It's amazed me how many readers' responses have touched on different parts of it, sort of like the descriptions of an elephant from touching various parts of the animal! LOL. I'm learning much I hadn't even thought about!!
:)
Thanks for the generous reply, Nellie. I think you nail it when you say, "I sense it's more of a "position" or a political attitude, whereas then it was a really personal heartfelt commitment." - That's the exact feeling I got when I read your article. The sincerity of the commitment.
At the same time, you're also right that there's a whole other kind of propaganda that works on people today. It's very rare to hear anyone say, "Why would I want Organic food?" Everyone just assumes organic is better. It's an instance of PR that really worked in the modern era. Doesn't work so well for political causes, however.
That sense of entitlement you speak of never really abated. As a child of the '80s, I think I experienced it more strongly than ever. Was there a more materialistic age in history? (The Beat Generation lost that fight. haha) The sincerity of your age was kind of sacrificed to get the sense of entitlement we've had ever since.
I was on the fringes of that age, Arthur. I was always "almost" of an age or a group. More just an observer, wondering. I can't speak for all the ages, but probably materialism hovers throughout history. People tend to be acquisative and to want to hoard against deprivation, I suppose. The kind of materialism which seems to cause such damage, though, is having for having's sake. As a kid, I heard my two much older sisters discussing why they'd want to be rich. The eldest said she'd want to be rich so she could have all the pretty things she wanted. The other one said she'd want to be rich but wouldn't want to spend it on any THING. I suppose the one was a MATERIAList and the other was a CAPITAList. haha.
Anyway - I tend to have more admiration for wanting, enjoying & using things than just wanting money to HAVE. It's almost like the biblical verse about "where your treasure is, there is your heart also". Seems a pity to put so much of oneself into one's things - yet we all do to one extent or another.
Yes - the entitlement mindset was bound to grow for a few generations. It grew by its own steam. Perhaps some sort of cyclic swing will change it. But right now, kids are so self-centered, they seem oblivious to anyone or anything else but what they want - in general.
But I have a lot of faith in humanity. Between it and necessity - it will swing and perhaps for much better.
I'm more concerned with the stench of "leadership" at various levels. It seems to have taken on a life of its own. Perhaps folks like you will show the better way.
The greatest generation who fought in WWII have now had their stories told. But sons have crash planes into the waters off Martha's Vineyard and are no more,.... how can the young bring back the greatest generation. They can't. There has been a splashdown of wild drugs and hippie scenes that challenged life in a new way. And the war in Vietnam because of its absurdity allowed for these radical arrows that flew in all directions. They said it was a new freedom, free love, free thought, free drugs... but it was dangerous. How can it be seamed with the previous times? Many never are to return from those hedonistic days with cells intact. It has become a selfish time that cries for fresh sentiments collecting, collecting, maybe butterflies in pastures or faces on facebook on an ethereal search for meaning and a new truth and devotion for new great works. I know they are out there. Help me find them.
Obviously - no easy solutions, since the situation has worsened in many ways. Perhaps it's improved in some ways which nothing else would have ever touched. But my reason for writing the Magnolia series - and this is but the first of several - was to try to pinpoint the generation chasm which followed WWII - not due to any fault - but due to the way it was - because I know specific cases of what it was. I think all that has followed has built on the chasm then, but it is not something that could be anticipated at such. WAR is bound to make casualties beyond the grave-filled ones. But that war was terribly traumatic in its effects.
May I suggest you read more of the Magnolia series to see what they say and I'd always be glad to discuss any thing which haunts you, not that I have answers but I do have ideas.
Thank you for reading this one and writing your comments.
What a wonderful account of a very different time! Thank you so much for writting this. I will be back soon!
Thank you! I'm so pleased that you saw fit to accept my invitation to visit! I look forward to exchanging thoughts with you!
I look forward to the same!
Thank you! There are several further segments to the Magnolia Series and it's been left open-ended for more at some point. You might enjoy the continuing saga. . .
Wonderful hub, my friend. What an amazingly well constructed piece of work. And what an inspiring section on North Platte.
Yep! It certainly brought tears to my eyes... and not just a few.
Bless you, (and bless those wonderful people too)
Ian
Thank you, dear Ian! I was quite inspired to write that - and of course- there are several followup hubs in the Magnolia series and I really had intended to continue it further. I'm so pleased that you like it and get it!
It is so uplifting and sad and beautiful yet practical; as only you seem to able to construct something as important as this.
It certainly gives me a different slant as to how America dealt with the War.
We are always being told how the British battled on and the Bulldog spirit, and almost being told that the Americans made a lot of money out of the War, and blah blah blah!
If course everybody suffered privations; I was one of the few who didn't by virtue of the places I was in and the situations, which would take far too long to relate. But having read that I have been looking at how my parents and I coped in the period from my birth to the end of 1948 - 1949. That silver spoon seemed to be lodged quite firmly.
Nellie Anna, I have found so many stories and bits and pieces of stories that I need to finish, and I just don't know how or when.
Italian, Indian, Australian... Grr!
My mind is full of so many ideas and memories. I think I'm just going to go to bed and see if my subconscious can assemble it into some sort of order... It goes from the profane to the insane to the tedious, but there is a grain of beauty in a lot of it.
Good night, dear friend.
Thank you, Ian - that is high praise indeed! I encourage you to just write - start with finishing one of those stories. Your life seems to be and to have been unique and extremely interesting. It's not as though the only successful telling is to have it all finished. To have one of the stories finished is good. Just do it!
But you're right- when you wrote that comment, it was long past a decent bedtime! Your subconscious will work on it - and if it's a little jumbled, all the better. It was possibly actually like that? -Might add just the right flavor to the telling if it's a bit off the wall?
Relax, dear guy. You worry too much!
How the hell does this happen?
I Google search for a picture of an old lady for my Twilight Lawns plc site.
I find a picture which is definitely NOT an old lady.
I discover Christopher Reilly on HP.
I get hooked on HP.
Suddenly, I'm a new man; a man who is made aware of his talent, by his peers.
Suddenly, also, I have friends; real friends.
And you, my dear one, are one of those very, very, special friends.
Much love,
Ian
I told you right off the bat that I thought I was in love! :-)
If you have become more award of your talents, it's high time, young'un!! You're brimming with them! And I'm honored to be one of your very special friends!! You're among mine too - which is really cozy!!
Hugs and love back at you!
Nellieanna
ps - my car stopped yesterday as I was trying to leave from grocery shopping. It's the third time and both the previous times, by the time I got my car expert to look at it, it started right up so he couldn't diagnose the problem. Yesterday, though - he got there and WAS able to diagose it so It is off getting a new fuel pump right now. Possibly I'll be hearing from him momentarily to say it's done and he'll come get me to take me over a few blocks to the shop to pay for it and get it out of hock!
Ah - he just called and will be over in about 15 minutes. I'm committed to taking some old friends to a Retirees' meeting-luncheon tomorrow, so it's a relief. I am SO glad it didn't happen on that excursion! It's way down far southmost Dallas. My car expert had told me to call him anytime it happened anywhere & he would come; - but on Saturday so far away, it might have been complicated! He said yesterday he was glad I wasn't downtown! LOL. Dallas is shaped like a wheel with spokes and concentric rings of thoroughfares. I live on the outer ring of northeast Dallas proper, where it used to be the outer limits of civilization; - even when I went to college here, this was countryside. Now the suburbs go on for miles in every direction but they each have their own names and zipcodes. Mine is one of the actual Dallas ones.
I have only had my present car for a couple of months... maybe three. God willing, nothing will go wrong with it, but I won't have to pay anyway, as I am disabled. I have a hell of a lot of trouble walking and have a car allowance from the government, This country is so good with the National Health Service and help for old farts like me.
I hardly walk anywhere, and have to use a walking stick; that's what the x-rays were about, because MAYBE if it's an impacted spine they will be able to do something for me. Yay! I miss being able to walk, although, unlike my mother who would walk miles along windy beaches and all that Kathy & Heathcliff stuff i just liked being able to walk my dogs etc.. I was a terrifically good dancer, and really miss that. I even hate watching people dance, because I usually think, "I can do better than that".
End of update.
George & I bought this car in 2001, not long before his heart attack. It is a 2002 Ford Explorer. It still has only a little over 12,000 miles on it! It's a dandy all-purpose car and I hope to take care of it and have it for the long run.
There is history about it and why the mileage is so low, - but I'll spare you the tiresome details. Suffice it to say that I'm very relieved and happy to have it fixed now, like new, almost. They put in an authentic Ford fuel pump and fuel filter and this car service stands behind their work. I'm lucky to have found a car shop where they actually seem to care about my car. It's in contrast to another one that didn't.
I hope and pray your new car serves you well, too, Ian. I wouldn't expect there to be any reason why not. But it's not a bit fun to be out of commission with walking and the uncertainty about what is causing the trouble and whether it can be remedied. But it is good that the National Health Service provides good assistance, even in the unlikely event that something did go wrong with your car!
I have loved to walk and been such a strong walker all my life; I walked every where, fast and tirelessly. I guess my "handicap" was not being a driver for 40 years of it and buying into the idea that I couldn't drive, being monocular. Turned out I'm an excellent driver with a good record for almost another 40 years! I don't prefer night driving now, if I can avoid it, but that's more just being practical. It's more demanding.
I'll bet you could do better at dancing than most folks! I just know you'll be able to again! I always loved to dance - but for the first 19 years of my life, it was just around the house alone till I went off to SMU and my sister insisted I had to learn to ballroom dance; so Dad let me take an Arthur Murray dance course and I got to be pretty good, so long as I had a good partner or it was one of those dances in which each person does his and her own thing, which I was always good at doing. My education up till then was at such a strict, conservative school - dancing was strictly taboo. In fact instrumental music was forbidden in religious applications. Only a cappella!
I haven't actually danced in quite a long while, though, except for the sort sone in aerobics classes and the way I almost danced as I walked to music plugged into my ear around the track at the gym a few years ago. Well, sometimes I still dance around the house if there is music playing. It grabs me.
Something you said then reminded me. My mother, when she was a girl, left home in the Valleys of South Wales to “see the world” and become a nurse... not necessarily in that order. It was very "smart" in those days to be able to dance, as in tea dances and all the stuff like that. She attended a dancing school, maybe it was Arthur Murray (!) or Victor Sylvester, I don't know, Regardless, it was a well known place in London, and she had such amazing ability that the man (The Man) tried to persuade her to become a teacher of dance.
She didn’t, of course… there was something rather risqué, that my Mamgu (Welsh for Grandmother) would have been horrified at.
She was well known to be an exceptionally good dancer, and became very famous (in the best possible way, my dear) whenever they had balls in the Officers' Mess.
Where my father was posted in North West India was such a remote area that the social life was by consequence, amazing.
I must write about that also... so romantic.
Unlike my mother, I didn't like ballroom dancing, much prefering the show off tango, rhumba etc.. All that foreign stuff!
Oh, Ian - that would be a wonderful story for you to write - about your mother. To begin with, there is something so universally appealing about a son's good memories of his mother, and yours was so interesting! I'm entranced.
As I recall, my Arthur Murray course included a few lessons in the Latin rhythms you mention. George loved the rhumba, tango, and those Latin rhythms and was really good at dancing them. I could move to the music but honestly didn't have the real techniques down pat.
Between the two of us, we had a lot of the old 33-1/3 rpm vinyl records of good old Latin music. And I even have an old fashioned record player that will play them. Maybe I'll put on a stack of them and just "pig out" on them. When we first married and I moved in here, while I was sorting things out and "making it my home" - I played those old records and burned fragrant herbs to permeate the air. That was fun.
Have you seen the movie 'Shall We Dance?" It is such a fun movie.
I loved reading about your Mother's dancing. I see a great hub brewing if you'll do it!!
Hugs.
I have not seen 'Shall We Dance?', but I must have been tuned into the reply of yours, because I would have been in bed while you were writing about it... I dreamt that I was playing 12" 33RPM records that were all dusty. Now there was nothing that happened yesterday here that would have prompted those dreams.
I also dreamt about ever pet I have had over the last thirty to forty years: 2 rats, innumerable rabbits, eight cats and my six wonderful dogs. Very strange dreams, but the records... Wow"
We must be on some kind of a wavelength, Nellie.
Talking of wavelengths and movies, have you seen 'Frequency'?
One of my all time favourites. And one of my favourite actors Jim Caviezel.
Thank you Nellieanna. This is a wonderful stroll down memory land and an excellent reminder of a "united" states. I recently wrote an article asking readers to remember things they missed. I think we need the reminders.
Ian - that is spooky and wonderful. I just looked at the movie trailer of
"Frequency" & I must see it! I'm fascinated. Have you seen "Somewhere In Time"?
Of course we are in some kind of a wavelength. Hugs.
Fay - I'm delighted that you found my hub and I'm looking forward to perusing yours! I just write about things I've experienced and I've experienced 79 years-worth, so it's bound to cover plenty of ground. But many folks are missing a lot of those kinds of experiences since so much sort of happens to people "once-removed". When even our salad greens come precut in a plasic bag, right next to the real lettuce and spinach, we are settling for the once-removed convenience over the experience of preparing the greens ourselves. And THAT is a minor example of the big picture of how people are side-stepping real experience for convenience and ease.
No one will remember a precut salad, though a really glorious real salad might at least rate a notice.
Just a minor example.
Thank you so much for your visit, your comments and your follow!!
Ian - by the way - I've been away all day, chauffeuring my elderly friends Val and Norm to a Retiree's luncheon, then we took Norm home since it is difficult for him to get around and I took Val to shop for a few things where I have a membership and she doesn't. We went back to their house and we gals chatted all afternoon while Norm snoozed in his chair. I got home about dusk. I put 49 miles on the car. LOL
Isn't it wonderful not being a teenager anymore. Sitting in a chair while the ladies chat. Mind you, inside I am still nineteen and wonder sometimes who that old fart is between me and the glass and then I realise it's me.
Watch 'Frequency', you will love it. It's a movie you can watch time and time again and say to yourself, "Oh I see now..."
My very favourite movie of all time is, 'A Room With A View'. I can't get enough of it. E.M.Forster annoys me, as i don't think he was such a wonderful writer, except for some of his short stories... but I suppose he was OK for his time. When I read the book, I could have strangled the lot of them... Lucy included, bloody snobs.
Norm is in his early 90s, Ian. You ARE a teenager by comparison! But you are right - I've no desire to be a teenager, either! I like just where I am, in fact, even beyond the fact that is it smart to like the present and the real. I'm having fun.
13 years ago when I started online and social interaction was all via chartrooms on MSN, my ISP - I started a chartroom. Name? "A Room With A View".
I haven't seen that movie, but perhaps I should, in fact, I've watched the trailer just now and I must see it. The Puccini music is enough to tempt me and I have a fondness for that period of history and a yearning for Florence, especially after hearing my stepson raving about it. I see ARWAV has some good actors I like, as well as many I don't know but would like to. I'm becoming more aware of English actors. Maggie Smith is great and I've seen some of her earliest work. Here is a much younger Judi Dench and a quite young Helena Bonham Carter and even Daniel Day Lewis, whom I loved in "Age of Innocence" from the book by Edith Wharton, who wrote of that period from an upper-class American view. The "American Aristocracy" were her characters. As you say - snobby - and also self-conscious. I really don't know E.M Forster as a writer, but I could be converted, perhaps, since I like that time of history, and definitely am converted to this movie. I hated when the trailer ended.
Helena Bonham Carter is '"big" right now as George VI's wife in "The King's Speech" which I saw recently & liked. Of course- I'm devoted to Colin Firth from "Pride and Prejudice". Now I'm thinking I must see him in "Girl With A Pearl Earring", playing the painter Vermeer.
Anyway - I came home, sat down here and slept about 5 hours. I've been up and doing things I would have done before retiring, though there are still more good sleeping hours in this night and I should - and probably will - go back to sleep, after I see about ordering some DVDs!
You must see 'A Room With A View' as soon as possible, because you will want to see it again and again. Maggie Smith is at her very best in this, and also Judi Dench... I can not say how much I love the movie. And yes, I have been to Florence and adore the place... that sounds so theatrical, but I ADORE it. Walking around the street at night gives one such a sense of the brutality and corruption and the decadence and Savonarola and the Bonfire if the vanities all come crowding in on one.
In the Piazza outside the Uffizi stands the Perseo which is my most favourite sculpture and of course there is the David.
But, Nellie, I can remember going into the Uffizi and looking at paintings on the walls and thinking, “I just saw that young man in the street” or “That was the girl with the blonde hair sitting on the steps of the Loggia”… It’s amazing. I love Botticelli and Fra Lippo Lippi and being surrounded by all that wonderful art and the people and the… I just get emotional about it.
I was so lucky while I was there, because I have a friend who is a nun in London and she gave me a letter of introduction to a sister in a convent very close to the centre of Florence who gave me tea and limonata in their cloisters when it was so hot … I must remember that for my little Italian piece I am in the middle of.
I loved ‘The King’s Speech’. I have the Beethoven Symphony Number Seven, second movement going through my mind all the time since I saw the movie… that was the music that they played during the broadcast.
I had ‘The Girl With the Pearl Earring’ but the “wicked Polish girl” who stole some of my cutlery in the OCD series, also took that when she went.
Enough said, I have a breakfast to cook and eat
x
I've just ordered the DVD of "A Room With A View" from Amazon.com, where I'm well known. Also ordered "Gird With A Pearl Earring", at a fraction of the price of ARWAV! No doubt Helena Bonham-Carter's current popularity in "The King's Speech" influences the sales' popularity of her other major movies a bit. I so look forward to seeing it - and I can guarantee I will see it again and again. When I love a movie, I never can get enough of it.
We gave George, Jr. a beautiful set of books from The Folio Society about the Florence art treasures. I hope he got to keep them in the divorce. sigh
They were scheduled to go back to Florence in October right after his Dad died in September. They hadn't told us before, though it was strange that Lucy didn't visit my George in the hospital during the days prior to his death. Anyway - George Jr. went to Florence alone and possibly enjoyed it more, being more able to pursue the things that interested him more freely.
They introduced us to Limoncello - is that an ingredient in the limonata - or is that just a lovely lemonade? How lovely that the sister welcomed you into the interior city convent and gave you refreshments!
I adored the music in "The King's Speech" too. I just got out my Beethoven CDs and downloaded the one with No.s 4 and 7 and am listening to 7 on my computer. The Second movement Is so lovely and expressive. This set has the 9 Symphonies included.
This is lovely listening to the music.
Not so lovely that that wicked girl stole some of your cutlery and the "Girl With the Pearl Earring" though. Wicked, indeed!
Now I want you to tell me that your Beethoven Symphonies is the Karajan with the Berliner Philharmonier in the silver box with the radiating silver rays, published by Deutche Grammophon and I will know there's some link here. You see, my Symphony Nr, 7 is on the same disc as the Symphony Nr. 4
Maybe it's just the mathematics of the size of the discs and the length of the symphonies. This was the frist classical music CD set I ever bought.
This is perhaps even more amazing. But, first - no, this CD collection is not the Berin collection, though I may have it on other CD sets. This was from a collection of various composers which George Jr. gave us and since I'd recently organized the cds, I knew exactly where it was located in my humongous collection.
HOWEVER. . . HOLD ON TO YOUR SEAT. My OWN most prized Beethoven collection is on 33 1/3rd vinyl and it is all his symphonies & concertos - 15 records. It is the Beethoven Bicentennial Collection published by the Duetsche Grammophon Gesellshaft with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. I guess I acquired this in about 1972, maybe - it is the 1971 edition and I listened to these all the time in my isolation before and after my divorce in 1972. One of my ex's complaints was that I wasted money on books and records, in fact. I had my own money, which he resented my using and I didn't drive, I was isolated on a farm out from town & the only discretionary shopping I ever did was by mail for books and records, other than groceries and kids' needs when my husband or his mother deigned to offer to take me. I sewed and made most of our clothes and all our Christmas gifts. etc. etc. -I was the antithesis of a spendthrift - - . But I needed my music and books.
The records are arranged in boxed volumes - 2 are of symphonies and overtures, and one is of concertos.
The CD I mentioned from my set of masters given us by George Jr. is by the Georgian Simi Festival Orchestra published as Millennium Masterpieces; - but I've bought many sets and singles of Beethoven CDs over the years. This set of masters has 4 or 5 discs of Mozart, and many of other great composers. I noticed that the numbers of Beethoven symphonies on the individual discs go 1& 6, 2&5, 3&8, 4&7 and then 9 is on a disc by itself. Yes, perhaps that is traditional or arranged to fit sizes best on the discs. It was a coincidence that your Berliner Philharmonier set has the CDs arranged with 4 and 7 on the same disc.
Perhaps my set of precious records will suffice to make some kind of link a likelihood. It's fun, in any case! It wasn't my first classical music records and I suppose I began buying classical CDs as soon as CDs came onto the market. I'm eclectic in my musical taste but classical is at the top.
By the way I have a stuffed teddy bear named Ludwig Van Bearthoven, who is my conscience reminding me to play my pianos or piano-keyboard some daily. He sits on the keyboard chair smiling at me as a reminder in case I forget. He's such an appreciative audience too. Never fusses when I goof and always smiles when I do well.
By the way, Ian -I also have the Beethoven Bicentennial Edition book, 1770-1970, which was a part of this extraordinary publication of his works and his story. It is the size of the 33 1/3 records in their boxes and about an inch thick, full of glorious illustrations of his places, people - his life's pictures, his original manyscripts, - his story. Amazing to have these treasures.
Bear are like that. They are so reassuring. My bear, Pooh, who appears in my profile pic, is still with me. He sits on a very beautiful antique chair in my bedroom. It's really lovely and so delicate looking that I fear for it being broken if anyone were to sit on it. Although it was obviously made to be sat on and is mid Victorian, I should imagine. It has an oval seat which is quite strange and a very fine, but elegantly Gothic back, inlaid with a honey coloured wood which looks lovely against the mahogany surround. Belonged to my mother.
Your ex sounds like a bit of an iconoclastic pig. You are well rid of him.
You never told me. Did you manage to open that attachment I sent you? I hope so, but it wouldn’t be earth shattering if you didn’t.
I haven’t played a note on the piano since I was teaching. I was in charge of music and whatever when I was at school, so wasn’t a pianist, as such, just capable of playing ‘Morning Has broken’ at morning assembly and whacking out the Christmas carols at Christmas,,, but I loved it and I got some good results
Ah. I have a pooh bear named Strawbeary. He is my faithful pillow when sleep here on the couch. Poohs are so stoic and long-suffering. He never complains, though he still turns to gaze at George's empty chair and then looks back at me questioningly. He's a wonderful neckrest too.
Yes, my ex was all that and more.
I have two rickety but lovely Victorian era chairs, too, which also belonged to my mother. Someone who saw I like stuffed animals gave me a Victorian looking rabbit - well two of them but one is much nicer than the other. They are seated on the two chairs. No danger of their making the chairs faint.
Now I'm blushing. I'm not sure what attachment to which you refer. I seem to recall being unable to open an attachment but somehow -- unopened, it must not have impacted my memory. Was it in an email? We haven't emailed much.
I've played piano ever since I can remember - with some stretches of not playing along the way. I was never outstanding, though at times I got better and when I was alone a lot, I got quite a bit better, playing all the time. I developed terrible stage fright at about 11 or so when I was ready to play Moonlight Sonata at a recital and my mind went blank, my fingers turned to rubber bands and my memory flew out the window. I retained a good memory for other things but was never again to memorize a musical number. I read every note, no matter how long I've played a piece or how often. And I still freeze up if I have an audience. Silly, huh?
I really would have liked to play the harp but Del Rio offered no harp teachers or instruments. And Mother was able to finagle lessons for me by hook and crook (it would make a good hub!) I think the last lesson book I had was John Thompson's Third Grade, though I played other books which were more advanced. I can claim almost no real musical skill or talent. But it is such a joy to do and I feel good when I know I've improved a bit.
I'd love to hear you play "Morning Has Broken". It's a lovely piece!
I have never had such poor connection with the Internet as in the last twenty-four hours. It keeps on coming and going. Could it be the Aurora Borealis? Apparently it was visible in the UK the night before last ('Frequency').
The attachment I sent you was in an e-mail and you said you would have to go and look on your PC because you couldn't open it on your lap top. Upstairs trek involved.
My piano teacher was the lady who taught Eileen Joyce, a very famous Australian pianist. The teacher said I had real potential, but I, spoiled little brat threw a tantrum and my mother took me away from her... she should have smacked me hard; I deserved it, and I never had another lesson again. Another one of my regrets!!!
I was a ghastly child.
Actually, Nellie, there are few sounds more lovely than children in a working class school, heavily laden with ethnic minorities and really underprivileged children, often with English as their second language, singing 'Morning has Broken' or at a Christmas Carol Concert singing 'Mary Had a baby, Yes Lord'... I really loved that school and the kids in it.
And, on the whole, they loved me. I have so much to thank God for.
Sorry to butt in, but I just have to say the two of you, Ian and Nellie, are absolutely quite fascinating to "listen" to! I've so much enjoyed reading your lovely comments to one another and picturing the dancing and the things the two of you talk about! I hope you don't mind if I just sit quietly in the corner and continue to smile and eavesdrop. I promise I won't sit on the Victorian chairs, or touch the Bears. I promise I won't be a brat....
Ian it appears we are observed so we'd best behave. I must apologize that I do recall that incident of needing to try an attachment on my PC which I couldn't open on the Mac laptop. But following through slipped my mind, obviously; and unfortunately, though I've looked for the attachment diligently in email (both received & sent mail folders & with your various aliases) without success, it is to no avail and unless you would be so kind as to resend it, I may forever be in the dark. My easiest way of retrieving it would be via email since I can open e-mail on both computers. Thank you.
Sorry about your poor internet connection. You know, I've noticed over the years that weekends are when that is most likely to occur. My theory is that the services choose that time to do their own maintenance when businesses are not making demands and expecting results. Hopefully, if that is so, your service will be at peak again when the week begins tomorrow.
OH dear. YOU, a ghastly child? I can't believe it!! What would your dear Krishna have wanted to say to his "Chota Sahib!” about such behavior? And you such a precious little blonde, blue-eyed tyke! Tsk, tsk! I'm going to believe you've just greatly exaggerated your childhood ghastliness & bratiness!
And going with the imagined sound of those children singing "Morning Has Broken" and loving their gracious teacher gives it high credibility!
Ah -AngRose! That is most flattering! Maybe Ian & I should publish a conversation! You're well advised to not sit on the Victorian chairs (or any other questionable antique furniture! hehe). Crashing to the floor would be painful. Mine are in the area with the terrazzo floor - not a good cushion for the crash! The Bears, however, love to be fondled - but it is well you intend to not be a brat, because they would be horrified unBEARably! It's so quiet around here, you see. hehe.
Thank you for the very fun and homey comments. Makes it seem like a real visit!
Nellie Anna and Angie, we are in good company.
Of course you are welcome… join in, if you like, Angie. Nellie and I have nothing to hide apart from the body we busied under the patio, and I’m sure you’ll understand that.
I just wrote about 150 words about the Internet and AOL and Google and TalkTalk and lost the lot.
Imagine I sent it. It is far too tedious for me to write again. Bloody Internet!!!
If you fall off a chair here it might hurt a little. I have tiled floors in all but three rooms (two bedrooms and the front sitting room). The tiles are terra cotta coloured porcelain, and No, they aren’t cold. I think the house is warmer since I had it tiled. You can see them in my bedroom in the hub, 'I Slept With You Last Night'.
I am so annoyed at losing all that writing, I’m going to have a bath and then breakfast and kick the cat… I forgot, I haven’t got a cat
Indeed, you're most welcome to join our spontaneous conversation, Angie. :-)
A secret, Ian: Write your comments (even emails and hubs) offline, - on whatever text edit type pad your computer has (or use regular word processing if that's not handy). Then just copy and paste on the comment screen or wherever it's intended to be. Then if it gets gobbled up (mine frequently do) you have backup. Even if you've changed it on the actual screen, you have most of it handy. Whenever I forget to do this and it gets gobbled up, I'm looking for a cat to kick too. On the other hand, I try to be philosophical and think that it would have been a mistake to post it as it was. If I do rewrite it, it is usually for the better.
In the case of hubs and capsules, you can copy the capsule parts from a full length composition you've written offline and paste. It's not that much more to do & saves countless losses and frustrations.
My den is carpeted and the floor is still cold! Upstairs it's not that way. The lower floor is built on a "slab" and it is cold. I wear fur-lined boots or slippers most of the year in here.
Thank you both for letting me join you...it is so much fun to listen to you both. We used to do that when we were younger, the siblings and I, when we would visit my aunt and uncle (the ones in my hub about grief). My Grandma lived there as well so we spent a lot of time at their house. And if we were very quiet, and well behaved, they occasionally forgot we were there, after a cocktail or two, and we learned some very interesting things. I thought it was worth a try with the two of you as well.
I definitely think you should write a Hub conversation together...you are both truly fascinating people!
hahaha! Angie - that's so funny. All my childhood I was listening to grownups. I had two older parents (in their 40s when I came along) and three elder siblings - one was 14 years my senior and the others were 12 and 10 years older. By the time I was running about they were quite grownup and I never got a word in edgewise!
So I am fine with being listened to! And you are extremely unlikely to hear anything juicy here. If there were to be any of those - we would be more discreet than to post them here. hehehe.
Nellie, I have already done that writing in Word for Windows and then copying and pasting but I get involved sometimes and then... Grr!
All my hubs were done this way. I was thinking off doing another hub today, but the connection is so poor that I think I would be going mad and getting bad tempered, and I think, instead that I will go to the cinema tonight, I have seen ‘The King’s Speech’ and ‘Tangles’ so it’s going to be ‘True grit’ which I have seen the trailer of, and it could be god or ‘Black Swan’… I’ve just looked and ‘True grit’ starts in half an hour… so it’s going to be ‘Black Swan’… or I could just stay at home and mess around with a buggering computer.
What do you think, girls?
I was brought up in the era when children should be seen and not heard... I wasn't interested in adults anyway.
I had a brilliant "poem" going around in my head while I was having my bath this morning, but I forgot every detail... It concerned an ostrich who apparently wasn't interested in the rest of the animal kingdom.
Ah well, you win some and you lose some.
I've been messing with poems and artwork for a possible hub and so missed your messages in a more timely way. I suppose it is after 10PM there now.
I don't even know what I want to make for supper.
I think Val & I may go to "Black Swan" tomorrow. On Tuesday our favorite theater has seniors' tickets for $6. If not tomorrow, then perhaps the next Tuesday.
You could have done both, gone to the show and then come home refreshed and messed with the buggering computer.
I'll be interested to see how you resolved it.
That ostrich poem sounds fascinating! It may reoccur to you. Hope so!
I decided on 'Black Swan'. An interesting movie. there were some scenes which made me writhe. if you like seeing fingernails being torn and ripped back, then it's a film for you.
I go to Cineworld. They have just put the prices up for 'Unlimited' customers. That means I pay £14.99 per month and for that I can go as many times as I want a month. It's a multiplex and in a high rise block so these is parking and if I go after 7:00 I don't even have to pay for the parking. It costs about £8.50 per movie (that's for the top price days)without the 'Unlimited' card so it's an amazing bargain. One could conceivably see two movies in an evening, or stay all day... tonight I came out after midnight.
It's funny (not the word I should be using), but I also have been messing around thinking that I want to put a poem on HP for weeks now.
It’s on a blog thing which I have, so I should remove it before I do; otherwise I will be accused of plagiarism.
What me? Plagiarise my own poem?
But every time I think about it, I read it and look at the picture that accompanies it, and, soft bugger that I am, I cry. It’s a little four verse poem written for my last dog and I miss her so much that I just cannot share her yet.l
What a complex thing is man!
I am not so keen on horror movies. That sounds pretty horrible. shudder. . .
But that "unlimited" movie deal sounds really great if one goes to movie theaters often. I guess that might promote going often, in fact! I'm reminded of something I'd forgotten. Mother realized that if one went to a movie after the last feature had started, there was no charge. So we saw most of quite a few movies after 11PM at our neighborhood theater. My mother was unique. She loved nothing so much as not paying full price.
So you came out after midnight. But you didn't say when you went in. Did you see more than one movie or did you just not get an early start?
When I was a kid, the thing was to see the Saturday morning Western 'shoot-'m-up'. But I had to make a quilt block t earn my dime for the fare. (My mother didn't miss a chance to teach the value of 10 cents, you see.) But my little friend and I stayed on for the afternoon matinee of the grown-up movie for the same dime. Movies like "Lady In The Dark" - with that memorable song, "The Saga of Jenny". Remember? I went around singing it all the time. tsk tsk.
I hope you decide to post your poem, but I wouldn't worry about plagiarizing your own poem, if you claim it on the other blog. But only when you're ready to share it. Sounds like an important sentimental one.
What's a quilt block?
The Movie started at 22:00. I was too busy dithering around here and deciding what to see until there wasn't a choice.
There were only three people in the screening when I went. Maybe it was a special screening for the undead and vampires.
Have a look at your e-mails and I'll send that attachment again. I can't send it on here... It's just a track from a CD I ripped myself, so has no URL.
At the top of this page: http://nellieanna.com/attic1b.html are two little quilts for my dolls my grandmothers made for me when I was little. But down the page about 2/3rds of the way is an actual haphazard quilt block I made as a kid to earn my dime for a movie. A "block" is a square portion for a finished quilt which is combined with others of its kind to make an entire quilt face. Each block is made of small pieces of fabric in shapes to fit into the design, and then they are stitched together, traditionally by hand, until, first, the size of the finished quilt block is done and then the blocks are stitched together to attain the entire quilt face size. Then that top layer is combined with a layer of insulating stuff and a backing, and all layers are "quilted" together with hand stitches in patterns which define the pieces and/or create an artistic design of their own, and - of course - hold the layers in place through launderings and use. When a quilt is laundered the sections pucker and that adds to the warmth, holding more air trapped inside the layers.
The quilt I have in process but badly neglected is shown here (forgive me if I've sent you this link before): http://nellieanna.com/13myquilt.html
Well, Val and I hadn't firmed up our movie date this afternoon and then when I mentioned to her about the fingernails, she was no more excited about seeing that than I was. We've decided to wait till next Tuesday and I'll see what else that theater is showing we might enjoy more. She has to arrange for their daughter to come stay with Norm when she's going to be away for any length of time. There are only 2 showings per day of "Black Swan", as opposed to 4 for "The King's Speech". Maybe BS does just pull the undead and vampires! LOL
I'll go look at my email in a moment. I got a bit of a late start this morning and am still multitasking. Thank you for resending the attachment. I look forward to seeing it!
Hugs.
At the top of this page: http://nellieanna.com/attic1b.html are two little quilts for my dolls my grandmothers made for me when I was little. But down the page about 2/3rds of the way is an actual haphazard quilt block I made as a kid to earn my dime for a movie. A "block" is a square portion for a finished quilt which is combined with others of its kind to make an entire quilt face. Each block is made of small pieces of fabric in shapes to fit into the design, and then they are stitched together, traditionally by hand, until the size of the finished quilt is attained. Then that top layer is combined with a layer of insulating stuff and a backing, and all layers are "quilted" together with hand stitches in patterns which define the pieces and/or create an artistic design of their own, and - of course - hold the layers in place through launderings and use. All the layers are finished together on the edges with a binding sewn around the three edges for a smooth finish. When a quilt is laundered the sections pucker and that adds to the warmth, holding more air trapped inside the layers.
The quilt I have in process but badly neglected is shown here (forgive me if I've sent you this link before): http://nellieanna.com/13myquilt.html
Well, Val and I hadn't firmed up our movie date this afternoon and then when I mentioned to her about the fingernails, she was no more excited about seeing that than I was. We've decided to wait till next Tuesday and I'll see what else that theater is showing we might enjoy more. She has to arrange for their daughter to come stay with Norm when she's going to be away for any length of time. There are only 2 showings per day of "Black Swan", as opposed to 4 for "The King's Speech". Maybe BS does just pull the undead and vampires! LOL
I'll go look at my email in a moment. I got a bit of a late start this morning and am still multitasking. Thank you for resending the attachment. I look forward to seeing it!
Hugs.
gramarye 2 years ago
Love those old pictures - I should be a baby boomer, but I don't feel like it because I came toward the end and missed the good parts. Missed everything really, the jobs boom, the fun boom and in the end, I'll miss out on old age care :-(